A father and grandparents accused of snatching his children from their mother in Anaheim, California and taking them to Texas in October have been sentenced for their roles in the crime, court records show.

Abraham Fernandez, 23, and his father Louis Mendoza Fernandez, 52, pleaded guilty to two counts of deprivation of custody of a child and were sentenced Tuesday to 270 days in jail and three years probation. His mother Elizabeth Fernandez, 52, pleaded guilty to the same charges and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and three years probation.

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She was given credit for time served and booking records indicate she was released from Orange County Jail Tuesday night. Abraham and Louis Fernandez remain in custody. Kidnapping charges against all three defendants were dismissed.
They have also been ordered to reimburse authorities for some of the costs incurred during the intense search for 2-year-old Jacob and 4-year-old Justin Quinones.

According to Orange County prosecutors, on the night of October 7, 2010, Jacob and Justin Quinones were in an alley near their home with their mother when Abraham and Louis Fernandez pulled up in a rented van and grabbed the children. They then sped out of the alley in reverse and drove away with the boys. Prosecutors say they hid overnight at the home of Abraham Fernandez’s cousin Linda Fernandez in Monrovia, and then they returned to Texas.

After authorities searched for the children for weeks, Abraham Fernandez turned himself in to police in Houston on October 26 but reportedly provided no information on the location of Jacob and Justin. The grandmother Elizabeth Fernandez returned the boys safely to a court facility in Harris County a week later and was taken into custody there. The grandfather Louis Fernandez was arrested at a later date. They all faced two counts of kidnapping and two counts of deprivation of custody in California.

Linda Fernandez and her husband David Nicholas have also been charged with kidnapping and deprivation of custody for allegedly harboring the men and abducted children. Prosecutors also accused Nicholas of renting the van used in the crime and returning it to Ontario International Airport the next day.

There was no formal custody agreement in place for Jacob and Justin Quinones when the crime occurred, police said. An attorney for the boys’ mother confirmed that a California judge granted her physical custody after their safe recovery in November.

The remaining defendants, Linda Fernandez and David Nicholas, are currently free on bond. They are scheduled for arraignment on January 19.

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